After the Minnesota Timberwolves gave away a 12-point lead in the final seven minutes of the game against Sacramento to lose their fourth straight, star guard Anthony Edwards did not hold back in his assessment of what is ailing the Wolves this season.
In a candid and no-punches-pulled postgame interview, Edwards called his team “soft” and said they were “front-runners” who could not seem to hold up to any kind of adversity and lamented the fans booing them on their home floor. The 115-104 loss dropped the Wolves to a disappointing 8-10 on the season. They have lost seven of their last nine games, and most of them have followed a similar script. They fall down by double digits, claw back to take the lead and then fade down the stretch.
This time the Wolves led 98-86 with 7:17 to play in the game. The Kings outscored them 29-6 the rest of the way to win easily.
“We look like frontrunners for sure tonight,” Edwards said. “We was down, nobody wanted to say nothing. We got up and everybody cheering and f—–g hype. We get down again and don’t nobody say nothing. That’s the definition of a frontrunner. We as a team, including myself, we all was frontrunners tonight.”
Edwards led the way with 29 points, five rebounds and five assists. But after a 5 for 5 start to the game, he was just 4 for 19 the rest of the way. One of the misses was an ill-advised stepback 3-pointer with the Wolves up 10 points in the fourth. It led to an easy runout for Keon Ellis and jumpstarted the Kings’ comeback.
As he always does, Edwards made sure that the criticism he levied toward the team started with his own play.
“I’m (going to) put this one on me,” Edwards said. “We made all the right plays. If I’m the guy, I’ve got to make those shots down the stretch. I missed a couple shots and they made shots. So, I’m (going to) take this one.”
The Wolves entered the season with high expectations coming off of a run to the Western Conference finals last season. But a major trade right before training camp that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to New York for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo has sapped them of the chemistry and cohesion they had last season. Edwards has been one of many players frustrated by the jagged start.
“We soft as hell as a team, internally,” Edwards said. “Not to the other team, but internally, we soft. We can’t talk to each other. Just a bunch of little kids. Just like we playing with a bunch of little kids. Everybody, the whole team. We just can’t talk to each other. And we’ve got to figure it out, because we can’t go down this road.”
The Wolves have started a four-game homestand with two losses to the Rockets and Kings, which included lackluster defense and glaring collapses in the fourth quarter. They have Thanksgiving off and then host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.
“I’m trying to get better in that aspect, figure out what the hell to say to get everybody on the same agenda, because everybody right now is on different agendas,” Edwards said. “I think that’s one of the main culprits of why we’re losing, because everybody out there got their own agenda. I guess their imagination of what’s supposed to be going on, and what’s really happening.”
The fans are taking out their frustrations on a team that has played with poor body language and low energy for most of the season. During both of the most recent home games, the Wolves have been booed loudly when the turnovers come in bunches and the defense cannot get stops at the rim.
“However many of us it is, all 15, we go into our own shell and we’re just growing away from each other,” he said. “It’s obvious. We can see it. I can see it, the team can see it, the coaches can see it. The fans f—–g booing us. That (stuff) is crazy, man. We’re getting booed in our home arena. That’s so f—–g disrespectful, it’s crazy.”
As players left the locker room after the game, they spoke of trying to rediscover a connection that has never really formed this season. Edwards has almost always had a positive disposition, rain or shine, but his words on Wednesday night were laced with frustration from being unable to find the answers yet this season.
“We’re just so negative right now. Last couple years, we was like this,” Edwards said, clasping his hands together. “And I just feel like we’ve gradually grown away from each other, which is the craziest thing, because most of us have been together. We’ve got two new players, that’s about it. Everybody else has been together.”
Required reading
(Photo: David Berding / Getty Images)
